The present invention relates to tape clamp mechanism for the reel hub of a tape cassette tape. The tape cassette is of a type used for video cassette recorders and audio systems.
Generally, in a tape cassette, the magnetic tape is wound around both the supply reel and the take-up reel with the magnetic surface facing outside. This type of tape is subject to a considerable amount of tensile load when the tape stops running in the fast forward or rewind mode of operation in the tape cassette. Thus, in order to enable the tape to withstand such load, leader tapes for increasing the strength of the tape are provided at both ends of the cassette tape. The utilization of the leader tapes also increases the clamping strength of the leader tapes, so that the tape will not easily come off the clamp unit.